An exploration of evidence-based policy in Ireland: health and social inclusion

Ireland is a small country with a history of a social partnership approach to policy making. This paper considers how the ambition of government to utilise an evidence-based approach to policy making plays out against this partnership agenda. Drawing on the authors' experiences and personal reflections, the paper considers how these issues operate within a number of health and social inclusion policy areas, and it explores the role of stakeholders' expectations and involvement in generating evidence for policy.